Léonard Martin

The artist

Born in 1991 in Paris, Léonard Martin currently lives and works in the French capital. The French art scene has been captivated by his work since he graduated from Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2015. In 2018-2019, he was artist-in-residence at the French Academy in Rome at the Villa Medici. His creative process makes use of drawings, papers and precious sculptures he occasionally animates with stop motion, a motor or video. He finds his subjects by delving into literature and the history of art. Wooden figures on tracks bring to life the characters of Irish novelist and poet James Joyce on their strolls. Italian painter Paolo Uccello’s horse riders serve as a pretext to create an interactive piece. He sometimes takes a break from building marionettes and automatons and uses painting to capture the theatre of objects that is his workshop. Visibly playing with perspective and cultural labels, particularly “painting” and “sculptures”, the scenes he creates generate a dialogue between mediums and eras.


Exhibitions

Biography

Birth Born in Paris in 1991
Residence Works and lives in Paris
Education 2017
Le Fresnoy – Studio des arts contemporains, Tourcoing, France
2015
École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

2021 Lafayette Anticipations. Paris Résidence À l'œuvre !
2019 -2020 Cité Internationale des Arts Paris Montmartre
2018-2019 Villa Medici, French Academy in Rome, Italy
2018 Prix Dauphine, Université Paris-Dauphine
2018 Pollen, Artiste en résidence à Monflanquin
2018 Villa Belleville, artist residency, Paris
2017 Prix de l'ADAGP, Révélation 2017, video and digital art section

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 Suite Zabriskie, Templon, Brussels, Belgium
2023 La circulation des sympathies, presented by Isabelle and Harry Bellet, Château des Gondi, Joigny, France
2020 Le Roi Nu, Royal Abbey of Fontevraud, Fontevraud, France

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2023 Biennale de Paname 4th Edition, Serre Wangari and Mains d’Œuvres, Saint-Ouen / Pavillon de l’Arsenal, Paris, France
Un Salon d’hiver, Bubenberg, Saint-Moritz, Switzerland
2022 Sparring Partner, Galerie Sabine Bayasli, Paris, France
2020-2021 A Bartleby, Galleria Alberta Pane, Venice, Italy
2019 Audi Talents Awards, curating Gaël Charbau, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
Biennale de Lyon, curating Vittoria Matarese, Usine Fagor-Brandt, Lyon, France
LORO, curating Hou Hanru and Evelyne Jouanno, Rome, Italy
Viva Villa!, partnership with Villa Medici and Collection Lambert, curating Cécile Debray, Avignon, France
2018 Notte Bianca, Villa Medici, Rome, Italy
Outside Our, Révélation Emerige, Paris, France
Today Will Happen, Asia Culture Center and Palais de Tokyo, Biennale de Gwangju, Gwangju, South Korea
Ce que le peu peut, Pollen, Montflanquin, France
Jeune Création 68, Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris, France
1+1=1, Villa Belleville, Paris, France
Confinum, Bubenberg, Paris, France
Prix Dauphine : (Hors) Cadre, Université Paris-Dauphine, Galerie du Crous, Paris, France
100%, La Vilette, Grande Halle, Paris, France
Prix Icart, Elephant Paname, Paris, France
Morceaux choisis, Bubenberg, Paris, France
2017 Rêvez #2, Collection Lambert, Avignon, France
Panorama 19, Le Fresnoy – Studio National, Tourcoing, France
2016 Salon de Montrouge 61, Montrouge, France
Panorama 18, Le Fresnoy – Studio National, Tourcoing, France
Félicités 2015, Beaux-Arts de Paris
Curiosités vol.2, curating by Marie Madec, Galerie Sans titre, Paris, France
Only Lovers, an invitation by Timothée Chaillou, Le Cœur, Paris, France

PROJECTS

2022 K minuscule, writing and staging with Elvire Caillon, New Settings Hermès, Théâtre de la Cité internationale, Paris, France
2021 Tempura Cockpit, writing and staging with Elvire Caillon, CDN Nanterre – Amandiers, Nanterre, France
2019 Nuit Blanche, Concorde-Bastille parade, curating Jean-Max Colard and Didier Fusilier, Paris, France
2017 Invited Artist, Centre Pompidou – Metz, Metz, France

Press

Acumen - February, 2024

Léonard Martin - Suite Zabriskie

Stéphanie Dulout

Transfuge - January, 2024

Trois jeunes artistes à suivre

Julie Chaizemartin